Gossip
by Nautica7mk
Summary: Life intervenes to get Lois and Clark together in the most unexpected ways.
1. Part 1 of 4

**Title**: Gossip  
**Author**: Nadia Mack  
**Rating**: PG  
**Disclaimer**: I Own Nothing  
**Summary**: Life intervenes to get Lois and Clark together in the most unexpected ways.  
**Author's Notes**: I was sitting in my desk this morning thinking. And thinking. Then thinking some more. Then I look back on Exposed and amuse myself at the memory of Lois and Chloe hanging out at the Daily Planet. So this story is somewhat inspired by it.

**Part 1 of 4**

Lois Lane. Twenty years old. Born on an Army base in West Germany, she lived her life on a daily basis, never concerning herself of the future. When it comes, she'll deal with it then, but at the moment, she's content to just live.

"Die! Die! Die!" Lois said in front of the computer monitor.

A few desks away sat her younger cousin, Chloe Sullivan. She grinned inevitably at Lois' antics. She plays the same game every time she hangs out with her at the Daily Planet after hours.

"Don't you ever get tired of that?" Chloe asked.

"Nope."

"Because, there are other games in there."

"Right," Lois said, dragging the word for all its worth. "I outgrew Mario Brother's a decade ago."

Chloe laughed. "Why don't you make yourself useful and write something?"

"Why?" Lois complained.

Chloe simply shook her head, amused. Half into her sophomore year in Metropolis University, she's glad to say that she's still interning at the Daily Planet. While sadly she is still handling the obituary section, Miss Pauline Kahn allows her to venture off into print-worthy stories when an opportunity presents itself.

"Lois. Do you think I make a good reporter?"

Lois looked at her oddly while at the same time, made sure her concentration didn't waver from the game.

"What kind of stupid question is that? Of course you're a good reporter. One of the greats!"

Although glad of her cousin's support and confidence, Chloe didn't feel the same way.

"Why do you ask?" Lois wondered.

Chloe shrugged. "It's just -- I haven't been given a real assignment. How am I supposed to bring in the good stories when my editor won't give me any of the great ones? I've been here a year now and some of the articles I did manage to write have made it deep in the double digits of the newspaper." She leaned back on her chair, clearly frustrated.

Lois paused her game then watched her thoughtfully. Chloe has always been so hard on herself. As much as she loves her deeply, practically as a sister, she was always aware of her emotional insecurities. It has always been there even when they were kids. She pushed herself too hard, and when she didn't get the results she wanted, it normally stressed her out.

"Look. A good reporter doesn't get great stories," Lois said to her in hopes to make her feel better.

Chloe looked at her like she was crazy.

"Tell that to my editor," Chloe said sarcastically.

Lois chuckled, refusing to give in. She rephrased. "A good reporter doesn't get great stories," she repeated. "A good reporter makes them great."

Chloe was about to say something to rebuke when she realized Lois was right. She sat frozen for a moment, blankly watching her cousin un-pause her game of play Space Invaders on the computer. She has always been impressed at how naturally Lois moved about in this line of work, even if in fact she continues to deny ever liking it.

"I have an idea," Chloe said, but Lois already knew what it was going to be.

"No, I'm not going to help you find another story."

"Oh, come on, Lois. You're like my good luck charm. I always seem to find the best story to turn in when you're with me."

Lois was not taking the bait. "That's because you keep throwing me into the most embarrassing and high-blood pressured situations."

"That was. One. Time."

"Yeah, one time every month," Lois scoffed while simultaneously gaining another hundred points. "SCORE!"

Chloe started to wonder a few months back how long it would take for Lois to realize that she was good at investigative journalism. She's even beginning to wonder maybe the journalism-bug caught the wrong cousin.

"Working here is a lot harder than I expected," Chloe confessed.

"What'd you expect?" Lois replied rationally. "Metropolis isn't exactly crawling with meteor-infected psychopaths." She paused. "And if it were, they hide it way better around here. A lot of closed spaces." She makes another kill. Bonus points. A smug look crosses her features.

Chloe is tickled at how completely unaware her cousin is of her talent. She asked herself many times how Lois did it. How can she move through life so unburdened? No, scratch that. She knew probably better than anyone else that Lois hasn't had it easy, but like she said about Metropolis, she was one of those people who knew how to hide it. And she hid it well. It concerned her sometimes.

Chloe opts for a change in topic. "I'm headed to Smallville this weekend to have dinner with the Kent's. Care to join me?"

"I think I'll pass."

"Why not?" she asked; surprised. Lois was practically an honorary member of the Kent family.

"I'm busy."

Chloe raised her eyebrows. "Busy doing what?"

"Stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Just things."

Was it Chloe's imagination or is her cousin actually avoiding the question. Her investigative instinct suddenly kicks in to high gear.

"Did something happen?"

Lois ignored answering the question fully. "No."

"You're lying," Chloe accused with a grin.

Lois never lies to her. The cousins had a routine, you see. A kind of rule between them. If there was something the other didn't or couldn't share, they'd acknowledge that something of the kind existed, thus, eliminating any kind of misunderstandings and false conclusions when a question arises and neither are reluctant to answer.

"I'm not -- what are you -- I'd never lie to you," Lois said, stumbling and befuddled.

Chloe spun her seat around and rolled herself by her cousin's side. "Something's going on," she surmised.

Lois rolled her eyes. "No. There is not."

"Then tell me why you can't come with me to Smallville."

"I told you, I've got stuff to do."

"Yeah. Right," Chloe replied, not believing her. "You'd never pass up on Mrs. Kent's cooking." She tugged at her arm, observing her cousin intently. "Come on! Tell me!" At that moment, Chloe reminded Lois incredibly of her younger sister Lucy. That can't happen.

"Fine! If I tell you, could you please keep it on the down low?"

Chloe became giddy with excitement. "Why? Is this something big?"

"Depends," Lois replied morosely. "Your infatuation on farmboy Kent is long gone, right?"

"Yes," Chloe nodded. "What's Clark have to do - " She covered her mouth, holding not only her shock, but her amazement as well. "Oh my God. There is no way!"

Chloe beamed at the idea that any kind of thing has happened between her best friend and cousin. They were literally polar opposites. While Clark immersed himself in school and authors like Thomas Moore, Lois avoided school and read books that involved tragic themes. They had little to nothing in common, so the revelation that something other than bickering friends occurred between the two is news worth talking about.

"When?" Chloe asked.

Lois didn't want to answer but she just kept on prodding. She looked at her wrist watch. "About three weeks four days and an odd number of hours ago."

With a sudden rush, Chloe unplugged her monitor and Lois protested disapprovingly. 

"Hey!" Lois glared at her angrily. "I was on the expert level!"

"Oh. You've been keeping this to yourself for almost a month and you haven't even told me. You are so going to give me the 411."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"This is you and Clark here," Chloe reminded her like it was common knowledge. "Believe me, I can write a book."

Several minutes later, Chloe is in rapt attention as Lois recounts -- at super speed that would definitely rival Clark's -- what happened between them one morning back in Smallville. Chloe is astonished.

"But you kissed him back."

"For a second!"

"But you still kissed him back."

"I was surprised, okay. It's not like I planned it."

"So how was it?"

"So -- not saying!"

"Then tell me what happened afterwards."

Lois sighed. "I left."

Chloe frowned. "That's it?"

"I certainly wasn't going to make a dramatic scene out of it. I'll leave that between you and Lana."

"Hey. That's not funny."

Lois thought so. "Look. I just don't want to go there, okay. It feels weird."

"But if you don't feel anything for him, then it shouldn't be."

"I'd like to think that too, but what about the plaid-wearing farmboy."

"Lois!" Chloe was about ready to chastise her. "If you can kiss the guy, you can say his name too."

Lois tries not to let her annoyance show. "How many times do I have to say it? He kissed me!"

Chloe takes a mental note to charge Clark with questions when she arrives in Smallville tomorrow evening. All the questions swimming in her mind cannot go unanswered. She wondered what possessed Clark to make a move on her cousin. Come to think about it, she's hardly see him around campus, and when he was, he made sure that he didn't run into her cousin.

Chloe was going to get to the bottom of this, and to her never-ending surprise, she thinks she's going to like it.

**To be continued...**


	2. Part 2 of 4

**Part 2 of 4**

It was a nice evening in Smallville, Kansas where the weather was cool and a smooth breeze race calmly across the air. Inside the Kent home, Martha Kent prepares dinner and Jonathan helps set the table.

"Jonathan, have you seen Clark tonight?"

"No," Jonathan responded. "Isn't he up in his room?"

Martha shook her head. "I came up to check on him a few minutes ago, he's not up there. I think maybe he's at the barn."

"You mean he's still there?"

"I think something's bothering him. He hasn't been acting like himself for a while now. Do you think that's something happened?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. I've just never seen him this – I don't even know what the word is – sad."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure he'll come to us when he's ready. He's not a small boy anymore." Jonathan paused, chuckling at the thought. "Actually, even when he was small, he wasn't so small."

Martha smiled. "I just worry about him, especially after what happened with Lana last year."

Jonathan gave her a warm smile before reaching out and pulling her towards him for a loving hug. No matter what happened around them, just as long as they have each other, they could survive anything.

"He'll be fine," Jonathan assured.

A few minutes later, Jonathan looked out of the front door, calling for Clark. "Son. Are you out here?" he said, stepping out to the front porch, looking for his son after he didn't appear for dinner when he and his mother called for him. "Clark?"

"I'm here, dad," Clark finally answered, slowly walking towards the house. He spent the last few hours in the barn.

"Are you all right, son? You haven't said a lot since you came back from school."

Clark shrugged half-heartedly. Truthfully, he wasn't all right.

"I'm okay."

Jonathan didn't think so.

"Do you mind answering that again, I didn't quite believe you the first time?"

With an answer like that, there was no way Clark couldn't smile. His parents are spending way too much time with a certain army brat.

Clark takes a seat on one of the porch steps. "I've been thinking a lot lately."

Jonathan joins him on the steps as well. "You want to talk about it?"

Clark wasn't sure where to begin. It all started three weeks five days and thirteen hours ago. He was at the library of Central Kansas studying when Lois showed up with take-out from their favorite Chinese restaurant in the city.

"Hungry?" Lois asked, waving the bag with its contents warm and smelling so good teasingly in front of him.

Clark dropped his pen and looked up, a smirk forming on his lips.

"Hello Lois."

Lois smirked in return. "Pick up that frown, Smallville. I come in peace and with an offering." She hands him the bag filled with food. "Heard you were clocking the hours at the library. I thought you might like some company."

Clark smiled, taking the bag, opening it and letting the scent fill his senses.

"Thanks," Clark said, removing the contents and spreading them evenly between him and Lois. About halfway through their meal, they ended up being the only two people in the library in their section, exchanging random stories and laughing in between.

"You're an idiot," Lois said, chuckling at Clark's lame attempt at a joke.

"You keep saying that," Clark grinned followed by a sip of his soda.

"It's true!"

"If you were someone else, I'd be offended," Clark laughed.

"I should try harder next time then," Lois quipped, lifting her chopsticks wrapped in noodles into her mouth. After a moment of chewing, "So what are you going to do after you've gotten your degree? At this rate, you'll have it in no time."

"I'm not sure yet. I thought after this semester, I'd travel around and finish my degree overseas."

"Credit your experiences, I'll buy that."

Clark nods. "What about you? What are your plans? You don't look like you're in any hurry to go back to school." His smile is infectious. "Don't you have any ambitions?"

"Sure. World domination."

Clark laughed. "I'm serious."

"So am I!" Lois laughed too. "Okay. Okay. I signed up for some journalism courses at Oakton Community College. I start in a couple of months. Chloe can't stop talking about it. I could see the wheels turning in her head; she's already making plans for our future. I can see it now…" she held her hands up to show him. "Lane and Sullivan. Best Reporting Team in Town."

Clark chuckled. "Why not Sullivan and Lane?"

"Because 'L' comes before 'S'… and I'm older," Lois smiled.

"Well, I'm in journalism too, in case you've forgotten. What about Kent, Lane and Sullivan?" he recommends with charm.

"I think Lane, Kent and Sullivan works better."

Clark shakes his head. "Nah-uh. Kent and Lane."

"Psst! Lane and Kent," she countered.

Clark was about to reply when he finds himself thinking about it. "Lane and Kent," he repeated. "Doesn't sound so bad."

Lois chuckled thoughtfully. To her surprise, it actually didn't.

She dropped her chopsticks and let out a sigh of content.

"That was good."

"Very good," Clark agreed. "Thanks for bringing it over."

"Anytime."

This is how their friendship worked now. They were long past their nonsensical petty differences and bickering. It was just fun differences and bickering now, and they both enjoyed it. In fact, they liked hanging out together. It has and continues to be refreshing to both of them.

Before Clark knew what he was doing, he got up from his chair and leaned across the table, claiming Lois's lips with his own. At first it was fast, frenzied and completely unexpected.

He could feel her tense from his sudden action, but he ignored it when he felt himself continuining to kiss her. She tried to pull away, but his right hand coming up to cup her cheek stopped her from moving.

The suddenness disappeared and what followed was the most intoxicating kiss he has ever experienced.

Lois jerked away, and Clark felt his face go red, his shyness exposed and an increasing amount of uncertainty flowed in the air.

"After that, it just hasn't been the same between us and I'm afraid I lost her," Clark explained to his father.

Jonathan released a lungful of air. He had always known that his son and Lois held a kind of special friendship, and with the exception of that one bathroom incident before his senior year, he hadn't ever thought that anything could happen between Clark and Lois.

"Have you spoken with her?"

"She's been ignoring me, not that I blame her. I've been kinda doing the same thing too."

"That explains why she's not coming to dinner this weekend."

Clark's eyes snap up. "You and mom invited her?"

"We tried, Chloe called this afternoon and said she'll be coming over this weekend alone."

Clark bowed his head sadly. "I've totally ruined it. We were doing just fine. We've become great friends, and now I've completely changed the entire dynamic of our friendship."

Jonathan smiled assuredly. "What do you want, son?"

Clark shrugged. "I want to be happy."

"Are you happy with her?"

Clark didn't know how to answer that without being dishonest with himself. Frankly, he didn't know how he felt.

"I know that when I'm with her, I'm not sad."

"Well, that's a good start."

"I hope so."

Jonathan smiled. "Why don't we head inside for dinner? There's no possible way you can think right now with an empty stomach."

Clark chuckled. "Okay, dad."

Father and son stood up and walked into the house, joining Martha in the kitchen.

His father always did know what was best.

**To be Continued...**


	3. Part 3 of 4

**Part 3 of 4**

Clark groaned. He could hear the creaking sound of Chloe's footsteps as she ascended up the stairs. Throughout dinner, she has made attempts to get him to open up about 'certain' things or in his case, certain 'people.' And what's worse, his parents made no attempt to help him.

"What do you want, Chloe?" Clark turned, already knowing the answer but he wasn't about to let her get anything that easily.

"I just have a few questions, that's all," she replied innocently.

"Uh huh," he said, not believing a word. "All right. What is it?"

Chloe crossed her arms and for a brief moment, she reminded him of Lois. He didn't like that one bit. "As you know, Lois didn't come tonight."

"Yeah, I kind of noticed."

"She was quite adamant about not coming, too."

Any hope left that Clark had sank. "Why are you here, Chloe?" he was physically tired, mentally exhausted and emotionally wounded. Last thing he wanted are reminders, and Chloe, is constantly reminding him. "I don't really want to play games right now."

Chloe gave him a sympathetic look. "It hurts, doesn't it? Liking someone who doesn't like you back."

"You didn't have to describe it like that," he said, hurting. Then he realizes, "You know about that?"

"After she refused the invitation from the Kent's, I knew something was up. I grilled her until she told me everything."

Clark gulped. "Everything?"

Chloe smiled. "Almost everything." She paused. "So, should you start or should I?"

"You go first," he said. "Seems like you know more of what's going on than I do."

Chloe quirked her eyebrow when she noted his down and out demeanor. She decided to take a different approach. "At first, I was just curious. Now it looks like you need a listening ear. What happened?"

Clark breathed in deeply. A part of him hoped she wouldn't press, but another part of him wanted to share his feelings, and those kinds of feelings just can't be shared too much with his parents.

"We were hanging out and I - " he couldn't say the words out loud, not in front of her. It seemed weird to him, especially when it was only a year ago that Chloe had feelings for him.

"You kissed her," Chloe finished for him.

Clark is slightly surprised. He should've known that she knew that much.

"Yeah," he answered softly.

"How was it?"

"It felt pretty good," he admitted, surprising himself in the process.

"I could imagine," she said, grinning. "After all that bickering and fighting you two do, it's almost natural you two take that next step."

"Do you really believe that? She was practically horrified."

Chloe sighed. "She's Lois," she reminded her best friend. "She doesn't go into relationships lightly. You gotta keep up if you want any hope of being with her. It's just how she operates. You'll be surprised at what you find once her barriers are down."

Clark smiled, remembering. He's caught a glimpse, but what he'd like more than anything was to see all of it.

"You really think I have a chance with her?"

Chloe nodded thoughtfully. "If there was anyone out there who did, I get the feeling it'd be you."

"Thanks, Chloe," he said appreciatively. 

Chloe gave him an even bigger smile. "Get out of here, Clark. I have a cousin alone back in Metropolis. Why don't you pay her a visit."

Clark grinned, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before super-speeding out of there. Chloe continued to smile, thinking how lucky those two were, even one one-half of them are stubborn to the bone. Lois will see the light, especially when Clark's own showed brightest.

Back in Metropolis, Lois sat behind her father's desk. She twirled around in his seat before deciding to put her foot up despite her father's protests that she don't. General Sam Lane paced back and forth in his wire-less phone, giving the third-degree to some poor subordinate who'll probably have kitchen duty as soon as it's over.

When he was finished, he slammed the phone down on his desk while uttering a few obscene words that Lois would have no problem repeating once she's out that door.

"Is there a reason why you invited me here on this fine cold evening?" she asked, her foot still resting atop his neat desk.

Her father answered her with a slap to her foot.

Lois chuckled as she removed her feet off his desk. "Seriously, I could be doing something else." She looked at her watch. "Do you realize, I've been here half an hour and during that time, I did absolutely nothing? Dad, that's like, half an hour of my life wasted."

"Your sarcasm is noted, Lo, now get off my chair," he ordered with ease. In front of anyone else, The General would've been serious, but in the presence of his own daughter and his daughter alone, he revealed a slight grin that his little girl was the only one privy to.

Lois sighed despite her amusement. She got up and took a chair on the opposite side. She may have lost the twirling motion of her seat but certainly not her ingenuity.

"So why am I here again?"

"Can't a father spend time with his daughter?" her father replied.

"Of course!" Then she thought otherwise. "If you weren't a General, maybe." She just had to stuff her foot in her mouth on that one.

Sam frowned a little at the remark. "I just wanted to see you, that's all."

"Hmm mm." Lois remained convinced. "What's up, dad?"

"I heard you were going back to school," he said.

"Heard or looked into?"

"Both," he answered quickly. "First I heard, then I looked."

Lois laughed, and seeing her laugh, Sam Lane had to laugh too. He intertwined his hands together after and watched her intently.

"So, Lo. What have you been up to?"

Lois is somewhat confused at her father's sudden interest in her life. "Besides going back to school," she shrugged. "Nothing all that particularly exciting."

"Do you still make contact with the Kent's?"

"_Talk_, dad. Do I still _talk_ to the Kent's, and yes. I do, occasionally. Why?" she wondered curiously.

"Nothing."

Lois felt it was more than just nothing.

"Dad." She got up and he soon followed. "Not that I don't enjoy these father/daughter bond - talking sessions, I should really get going."

"Lo," he gestured back to her chair, wanting her to sit back down.

Lois sighed and did what he nonverbally told. She breathed out a lungful of air.

"I just want you to know, that if there's anything you want to talk about, anything at all, I could try to help you."

Lois couldn't figure out for the life of her what her father was trying to say.

"Uh… thank you," she answered awkwardly.

"I mean it," he continued. "Anything at all."

Lois is confused. "Anything like what?"

"You know," her father starts a little gruffly. "Anything with school… with a job… your sister or… or… boys."

Lois raised both her eyebrows in shock realization. Her father had called her in to talk about her personal life. Figures.

"Dad - "

"Look, I know I'm not always there, but I'm here for you if you need me. And boys, they can be animals." Lois closed her eyes and shut her mouth momentarily to hold back her laughter. "But there are some… decent."

Decent? "Dad, if you brought me here to talk about safe sex, I'm sorry to say but you're way too late for that."

Her father growled. He didn't need to know that particular bit.

"Lo, that's why I pay the educational system for." Lois rolled her eyes as her father continued. "I'm just pointing out that there are good men out there that's worth looking into."

Lois this time couldn't hold onto her laughter. "And what? You've printed me out a data sheet of potential suitors?"

Sam sighed, leaning back on his chair. "Just think about it."

Lois was at a loss for words exiting her father's office. 'Think about it' he says.

"Think about what?" She shook her head all the way out of the building and to the parking lot. That was the weirdest conversation she's ever had with her father, and there's been a lot.

Fifteen stories high, General Sam Lane watched his daughter get into her red Fusion. He takes out a cigar while dialing a set of numbers.

"Hello," a woman on the other line answered.

"Good evening, Mrs. Kent, its Sam."

"Oh, hello Sam. Did everything go okay?"

"She's thinking about it."

"Well, that's good. Chloe just told me he was heading to Metropolis tonight, so hopefully they'll see each other."

"Yes, if my daughter doesn't run away first."

"Thank you for all your help."

The General smiled appreciatively on the other line. "It goes the same from me. You and Jonathan have a good night."

"You as well."

Sam hung up the phone and puffed another round of his cigar. Being a father is interesting, and he smiled regretfully wondering why he didn't start being one a long time ago.

**To be continued…**


	4. Part 4 of 4

**Part 4 of 4**

Lois went back to her apartment with an exorbitant amount of unease. Her little talk with her father, the General, did little to relieve the anxiety.

Reaching her front door, she fiddled looking for her keys, dropping them in the process.

"Here, let me get that for you." Another hand snatched it up before Lois could get her hands on it.

She looked up and sighed, her head falling backwards, staring up at the ceiling. "This can't be happening," 

"I'm sorry?" he asked, confused by her reaction. Clark didn't think he did anything wrong.

"No," she waved off. "It's nothing you did."

Clark nodded, relieved. He looked at her oddly when she held her hand out, palm facing upwards.

"What?"

Lois chuckled in amusement. "Can I have my keys back?"

"Oh," he realized, handing her the keys.

"Not to be rude, Smallville - "

"That's a first," he grinned.

She glared at him. "As I was saying… What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be back home having dinner with Chloe and your parents?"

He had already thought up a clever yet simple excuse.

"I left early."

"Why?" she bit her lip when she realized what she just asked. "Nevermind, don't answer that."

"Could you stop ignoring me for one second, I'd really like to talk"

Lois is a bit surprised at his bold request. She paused for a second before opening the door, gesturing him to come inside. He sounded pretty serious, but personal experience had her conclude early on that whatever it is, is probably not that big a deal.

"So... What's up?" she said in an attempt to be understanding.

"Nice place."

Lois rolled her eyes. That's a brilliant way of ignoring what he came here to do.

"Thanks. Cashed in my trust fund last month, turns out it was enough to buy the place."

"Really?" Clark wasn't aware of that. "I didn't know."

"Since it was only Lucy and me, my mom was a good investor. She had a lot of money saved up for us before she died. Normally, I wouldn't have been able to touch it until I was 21, but by some miracle, I convinced the general to let me have it." She knew she was babbling now, and that's usually the case when she's nervous.

He listened attentively, thrilled that she opened up more to him now than she had for the last three and a half weeks.

"I'm happy for you," he said sincerely.

"Thanks."

He finds his eyes roaming around her apartment which looked newly furnished. He caught a glance of her bedroom and held back a chuckle. It's funny how her room could look like a hurricane hit it while every other room besides it looked tidy and perfect.

"Clark."

His attention snapped to her direction. "Yes?"

"Why are you here again?"

"Oh. Right." He swallowed nervously, his heart beating fast and his stomach in knots. "I wanted to talk - about us."

"About us?" Lois wasn't quite sure if she liked the sound of that.

"Maybe I was a little forward but I don't regret kissing you," he said truthfully.

She remained silent.

"And I don't want us going back to friends, not when I feel this way. But if that's what you want, I could try."

At that moment, she felt like she got hit by a large baseball bat.

"You just contradicted yourself," she observed unintentionally.

"What?"

"You just said that you didn't want to be friends, but then you said you'd try. So which one is it; are we friends or are we not friends?"

Clark sighed. She always knew how to be stubborn. She and Jor-El will get along just fine if they ever met.

"That depends entirely on you," he answered.

She crossed her arms, sternly. "So what you're really telling me is that you don't know what you want?"

"No, that's not it," he replied, getting a little upset. "You're twisting my words - "

"I'm not twisting your words, I'm just repeating it."

"I like you, Lois!" he finally admitted. "There. Try to twist that! You can't, can you?" He moved to her sofa and plumped himself down like he's lived there all his life.

Lois opened her mouth to answer but she found herself unable to reply. She followed him and sat down on her loveseat with still a flabbergasted expression all over her face.

She couldn't think of anything to say, so she did the next best thing.

She chuckled.

Clark glared at her. "What's so funny?"

Then she broke out into a full laughter.

"What?" he asked impatiently.

"Us, that's what," she answered. "Look at us. Arguing like this. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."

"So you've thought about it?" he asked, hopeful.

"It's crossed my mind once or twice."

"And?"

"And what?"

"How do you feel about us dating?"

"Honestly," she began. "I haven't really gotten that far."

Clark sighed. "Then start now."

"Okay, now you're being pushy."

"We haven't spoken to each other in almost a month, Lois. And frankly, I'm bummed out about that. I just want to know, is there a chance for us?"

"That's a loaded question, Clark."

He smiled when she called him by his real name. He knew when she did that, she was taking the situation seriously.

"I think the million dollar question here is, can you answer it?"

She walked towards the exit door. "I think you should go."

"I think I should," he replied angrily.

She opened it only to find another person behind it, and it was the last man she suspected.

"Dad?"

"Hey, little Lo. I brought some take out. I thought we could eat them together." The general walked inside her apartment without an invitation and spotted Clark Kent in the living room.

Clark's anger dissipated and was replaced by fear. Then he gulped. The 3-Star General simply smiled. A rare occurrence even with his daughters. 

"Hey Kent. It's good to see you. Sit down and join us."

Lois was about to protests when her father sent her a very fatherly mixed with a soldiery glare. Then she gulped, walking towards Clark a little too quickly.

"Join us for dinner?" she asked, feigning annoyance.

"Do I have a choice?" he retorted.

"Ahem!" her father interrupted and they both turned simultaneously around to face him.

"Yes?" they both answered at the same time.

"I brought a movie too."

Any hope to get out of this uncomfortable situation with her father was gone.

"No doubt a military movie," she quipped.

The general nodded. "It sure is. You two might even learn something from it."

Lois and Clark turned to face one another before facing her father.

"What is it?" they say simultaneously yet once again.

The general turned away from them and smirked. "The Rules of Engagement." And he could hear the two kids sigh in frustration.

**The End**


End file.
